One in six children in the United States do not know when they will get their next meal. Children who are facing hunger struggle in school, are more likely to repeat a grade, have developmental concerns and have behavioral problems. The National School Lunch Program has brought meals to millions of children from food insecure families for free or reduced rates.
Policy Description
To ensure the health of children in the United States, and to encourage school aged children to eat nutritious meals, President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act in 1946. Today, the National School Lunch Program(NSLP) is a federally assisted program that provides children from low income families free lunches in public and private schools. The meals are nutritionally balanced, based on the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans by the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and offered at a reduced rate or free to children whose families met the qualifications. (Dietary Guidelines for Americans )In 2012 the NSLP offered lunches to over 31 million children each school day. To qualify for the school lunch program, families must earn at or below $44,000 annually for a family of four, which was about 51% of school aged children in 2012. The poverty rate for a family of four in 2017 is $24,600. The NSLP will feed children whose families are almost twice the poverty rate (National School Lunch Program, 2017).
Prevalence
School lunches are like eating raw beef, and the room where we get this food from is as clean as a garbage dumpster with rats living in it. We need a change in the way that we clean with real sanitation solution and the way we portion sizing is in the Middle school and High school lunches.
Many of us have attended school once in our life. And many of us have tasted the dreadful school lunches that are served. Various people believe that schools need to provide more food in a meal. Society has been conversing about the nutrious value in a school meal and they wonder if the meat in the lunches are real or completely fake “beef”. School lunches have become even more unacceptable and need to be re-thought for the health of the younger generations.
Have you ever thought why you’re school lunch looks so disgusting? Have you ever thought what it’s actually made of? Or why doesn’t this look like the way I ate it at home? For some schools, lunches lack in many different categories from visual pleasure to taste. If the school lunches taste so bad, why don’t we try another way to make them better. For a school in Greeley, Colorado, they’re doing just that. They’re firing up their stoves and are ready to get the ball rolling. There are many reasons on why the school is taking such a huge step backwards. Like, the routine of buying reheated foods and serving them without hesitation. The schools budget cuts or the kitchen being too old and small for the process of preparing such foods. As well as, the list of ingredients that do not need to be in the foods and the risks of diseases/bacteria in the reheated lunches.
No Kid Hungry educated school based leaders, elected and business leaders, community groups and private citizens about the prevalence of childhood hunger while at the same time connecting eligible students and families with services. They encourage the use of the school lunch program, but focus efforts on lesser utilized programs such as those that provide nutritious meals afterschool, during the summer and for breakfast. No Kid Hungry also supports schools and school systems in establishing and maintaining hunger prevention programs and, “implementing solutions that break down the barriers that keep kids from healthy food,” (NCHNC, 2016).
Open Campus lunches something I’m sure that would be able to offer many benefits to all of us, students as well as teachers and staff alike. This would broaden THS meal choices, give some THS staff a more relaxed lunch, and lastly provide a chance to improve the responsibility of students.
Think back; is there a school lunch that comes to mind? There may have been at least one school lunch that the lunch ladies would dish up that made a majority of the students excited to eat. Kids that routinely brought their super-hero lunch-box and thermos would leave it at home and jump in line for pizza or burgers and fries. Kids were also allowed to go back for “seconds” and for some students, it was the greatest meal of the week, including what their family served at home. The federal government has been involved in the NSLP (National School Lunch Program) since 1946, with the implementation of the National School Lunch Act. These initial programs developed the commodity distribution program for schools, institutions, needy households, summer camp, and other eligible outlets (USDA Food and Nutrition Service). Since this initial deployment, there have been various changes, the most recent being “Healthy Kids Hunger-Free Act” passed in 2010. This was an initiative of the First Lady Michelle Obama. The act was part of her plight against child obesity and also part of her “Let’s Move” action. The impact of the government controlling what is chosen for the school lunch menu has decreased student participation, increased waste, and decreased healthy eating among the students.
Starting at the beginning, the National School Lunch Program was created in 1946 to ensure that each and every American child could receive needed nutrients from their school lunches (Stallings). At the time, we as a nation had just come out of World War II and resources at home were low. The National School Lunch Program provided kids at least one nutritious meal per day. This help from the federal government meant that parents would no longer have the burden of preparing a school lunch for their children each and every day. Then, in 1975, The School Breakfast Program (SBP) was added so that children
School lunches have been a hot topic in the Education and Agriculture department for decades. It is noticeably debatable on whether or not to tax more or make costs less, or both. Many students opt out of school lunches due to how unappetizing/non-nutritious it has become, but not every student has this choice and over the past few decades the rate of obesity and type 2 diabetes has doubled, if not tripled, and it begins in the cafeteria. The articles, “Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables” by Mark Bittman, “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause” by Jane E. Brody, and “No Lunch Left Behind” by Alice Waters and Katrina Heron, each gave complex views on government intervention, taxing junk food, and enhancement
What if the schools freezer, oven, and everything else they use to cook with just broke? What would you tell the students? What would the students' eat? Well, if we had off campus lunches, then if that problem ever did happen then you have a backup plan. If students didn't have a ride or any money to buy themselves food, then a note would go saying that students should pack a lunch. Off campus lunches are trips that students could take during their lunch to a restaurant, so they can decide what they want to eat. Students at public schools want more freedom and off campus lunches would give them that.
program did not reach the entire country until 1965. Meanwhile, school lunches were a low prioritization rather than other social welfare programs. Senator Richard Russell from Georgia was the person who established The National School Lunch Act as a permanent lunch program. He stated, “The School lunch program has proven an exceptional benefit to the children, schools, and agriculture of the country as a whole.” The program was implemented to encourage food production and consumption for the agricultural industries and that permanent legislation passed. After the Second World War, the government
There is much controversy over school lunches at PCEP, our sample of the students was almost divided on the issue. In a survey of 80 students attending PCEP lasting from Monday to Thursday, we found 35 Students (44%) bought school lunches. On the other end, 42 students brought lunch (52%). We also found 1 person (1%) did not eat lunch and 2 (3%) said they only eat lunch sometimes. Overall, the majority of student brought lunch.
Students learn and do their best when they are hungry, and uncomfortable! That makes perfect sense right? If you’re like most Americans, this may be one of the most ridiculous statements you have ever heard. I know I have never done anything better hungry. Many students sit through their lunch time at school because they have no food to eat because they don’t have the money to afford it, or they are not able to bring food from home for various reasons. This is why many schools have free and reduced lunch programs. But not everybody can apply for these programs; even middle class families in today’s economy sometimes can’t give their child cash every day. Times are tough, and every family is different. These are good programs, but they are
North broward prep middle school students need more options for lunch. Other ther than abominable cafeteria food, and the school store which only provides salad and subs. The cafe offers restaurant food for cheap prices for lunch. They provide things like Tijuana Flats and Chik-Fil-A. This would affect us by having energy throughout the day and we need a proper lunch and not be starving in the afternoon. The food is so that often times, people call school lunch prison food, and there is a reason for that the lunch ladies soak the food in oil and heat it up so when you eat it is a greasy mess on a plate. The school lunch will be so much more
According to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, the goal of the National School Lunch Program is “to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children and to
Schools in high-poverty areas with most children in need of free or reduced lunch, tend to do well with these new regulations. However, schools will less kids eligible for free or reduced lunch do not do so well, and a lot of districts in this category have dropped the program. Theory is that schools with more children than not eligible for free or reduced lunch, are more likely to eat what is served to them. “Some of our students show up for breakfast and haven’t had anything to eat since lunch the day before” (Hill). The Executive Director of Nutritional services points out a harsh fact, and the good these lunch programs bring to table.